A note to USAA auto policy holders
Written: Apr 20 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Still the lowest rates in the country
Cons: If you actually need their service, they're not there to help you.
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| WilliamQuinby's Full Review: USAA |
I have this date (04/20/00) cancelled my USAA policy after 13 years of auto insurance with them. Until a few months ago, I would have recommended them to anybody; however, recent events have shown me that the company is obviously not out to help their customers.
I was involved in an accident on 10 March in my '93 Mustang (an LX 5.0, to be specific). The investigating officer wrote up the other driver as being at fault (one count each of careless driving and failure to provide proof of insurance which, here in Florida, is considered a violation). I dutifully faxed off copies of the accident report to the adjuster in Tampa, who in turn sent me to the STARS shop here in Daytona.
This is where the trouble begins. The STARS shop is the Cadillac dealership. I'm in a Ford. Their attitude when I pulled in with my broken car was palpably negative, to say the least. Then they wrote up an estimate saying that the paint is faded (which it is), but then they refused to paint the car. They were only going to paint the fender. I attempted to work things out with the adjuster in Tampa, who steadfastly refused to help. Furthermore, on the day of the estimate, the shop claimed they had "made temporary repairs" to my car. Their temporary repairs consisted of taking a large hammer and beating the fender back off the tire (it had been crushed in and down in such a way that every bump I hit was rebounding the tire up into the edge of the fender, cutting the tire.) The shop claimed that car was safe. I could see and knew that it was not. Nevertheless, that's what they reported to USAA...who promptly ordered me to turn in the rental car that I was entitled to under my policy (I did, thinking I could use the balance of my entitlement later). Furthermore, this shop, which had ordered all the parts necessary to do the job, somehow managed to not put me in their schedule for the following week. This forced me to drive around in a vehicle with a badly damaged quarter panel, and unknown internal damage to the driveline and brakes on that side. After I turned in my vehicle, I stopped by to check on the progress later that week, and the manager was openly hostile and refused to let me into the shop to check on my car.
Where was USAA during all this? Certainly not paying attention. It took an angry phone call from me to the manager of USAA's Tampa office to find out the status and when the car would be ready.
I picked up the car Tuesday of the next week (again turning in the rental car from USAA). Previously, this vehicle had won an award in an all-Mustang show held in my hometown of Montgomery. When I picked it up, the interior (which they hadn't done any work on, nor were they supposed to) was ankle-deep in saw- and paint-dust (don't know where the sawdust came from) and was littered with parts of plastic trim from inside the car. I had relieved them of the responsibility of actually painting any portion of the car, as they refused to do the job correctly (stripping and redoing the whole car). There was (still is) a teriffic amount of overspray all around the doorjamb and the edge of the trunk lid. I paid my deductible ($1000) out of my own pocket (I'm a graduate student in college, believe me---that hurt!), and took my busted car home.
Since then, I have found another body shop that would take on the task of properly redoing the vehicle. I turned in the car, and took a rental yet again, this time for three weeks. I thought I'd be able to apply the remainder of my rental car entitlement ($15/day up to $450/30 days, I had used 16 days by this point). Before turning in my car, I called the adjuster to let him know. As I write this, that was three days ago. I heard back from him today, finally. The company turned me down for the rental car, and refused to let me take the remainder of my entitlement to put towards the rental. Furthermore, USAA has informed me that I, not they, will have to go to small-claims court to get my deductible back.
That was the last straw. I immediately set up another policy with a different company, and have concluded all business with USAA. My policy with them will cease the first week of May. I'm not alone in this---my grandmother also was forced to cancel her policy with them after over 40 years of membership, when they credited her with three accidents that she was not involved in! I think this should go out to all those considering USAA---the quality of the company has gone down terribly, and their service is simply not to be trusted. You can get the best rates in the country---but if you ever get in an accident, they WILL NOT HELP YOU.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
WilliamQuinby
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Reviews written: 1
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